Port Mann Bridge Tested With First Commute

The new Port Mann Bridge is getting its first test of rush hour traffic Monday morning. (B.C. Government)

The new Port Mann Bridge was tested during its first rush hour this morning as drivers on both sides of the Fraser River crossed the newly-opened bridge on their way to work.

The trip appeared to be clear sailing for drivers on the Surrey side heading west toward Vancouver, ending the stop-and-go delays on the Trans-Canada Highway many drivers have faced for years.

But once that westbound traffic crossed the bridge and hit ongoing highway construction in Coquitlam and Burnaby, many drivers faced long delays once again.

Gordon Price of the City Program at Simon Fraser University says those delays are unlikely to disappear.

"As you generate more traffic, the traffic goes somewhere and that is where the impact will be felt," he said.

"The impact will be on the intersections of Surrey and Langley. When you get off 200th and you head down towards Willoughby, what is going to happen then as you generate more and more traffic, they will feel the congestion."

Price says offering alternate transit options is the only way to avoid congestion, saying additional bus services should have been built into the new Port Mann Bridge.

The province has promised the new bridge would reduce some drivers' commutes by up to one hour.

Eight lanes on the bridge were open for the first time on Saturday and the bridge is free until Dec. 8, when drivers will start paying a discounted toll of $1.50 for cars, small trucks and SUVs. Large trucks will pay $9 per crossing, but will get a half price discount after 9 p.m. and before 5 a.m. PT.

New express buses running

For the first time in decades, rapid transit buses are now crossing the Port Mann. Bus service on the old bridge was stopped many years ago because of the length of the delays. The new route is expected to carry 3,000 to 4,000 passengers per day.

The new #555 Port Mann Express began service on Dec 1, travelling over the new Port Mann Bridge between the Carvolth Transit Exchange and Park and Ride on 202nd Street in Langley and Braid SkyTrain Station in New Westminster.

TransLink says the #555 will operate seven days a week, with buses running every 10 minutes in each direction during peak periods — Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. PT to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. — and every half hour the rest of the time, with the last bus leaving each terminus at 11 p.m.

The final two lanes of the bridge are slated to open in the spring, when the old Port Mann Bridge will be removed.

Ongoing Port Mann construction, completion dates

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The Lions Gate Bridge, built in 1938, carries commuters from Vancouver to the North Shore communities of North Vancouver and West Vancouver.

The suspension bridge is a tourist attraction, carrying people on a wobbly walk 70 metres above the Capilano River.

Motorists must pay a $4.90 toll to drive the Golden Ears bridge, while those driving small trucks must pay $7.10 and those driving large trucks must pay $10.05.

The Port Mann Bridge, at a width of 65 metres, will be the widest in the world.

The Burrard Bridge spans False Creek, connecting Vancouver's downtown with the community of Kitsilano.

The Brown Bridge that takes drivers between Princeton and Tulameen once featured in the Burt Reynolds film "Malone."

You'll have to take the Rocky Mountaineer train to view this beauty, which is located up on the side of Mount Shaughnessy in the Rogers Pass area of B.C.'s Selkirk Mountains.

The Kawkawa Bridge in Hope featured heavily in the Sylvester Stallone film "First Blood," which introduced the world to his famous "Rambo" character.

Heath Fletcher rides his bicycle across trestle #15 in the Myra Canyon in Okanagan Mountain Park near Kelowna , B.C. on Thursday, June 19, 2008. The Okanagan fire of September 2003 destroyed 12 wooden trestles, which were rebuilt to historical specifications.

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